At RIBA Part 2 (MArch) level, Professional Studies elements ensure that students have the opportunity to evidence how they have gained knowledge of the industries, organisations, regulations and procedures involved in translating design concepts into buildings and integrating plans into overall planning.
This is developed by progressing through a series of lectures by specialist staff and practising experts. The students gain a better understanding of the realities around the professional world and ‘business’ of architecture before demonstrating how they might apply that in their own journey.
In the final Professional Studies unit, students revisit a previous studio project in the context of the ARB’s guidance on Fire & Life Safety, Climate Change and Sustainability to demonstrate how, on reflection, they could improve it with their enhanced professional studies knowledge. They formed proto practices to showcase their business acumen, often reaching beyond the 'traditional;' model of practice. This year there have been an inspirational set of proposals with socially-conscious and technological foundations, considering: passivHaus futures, refugee populations, working from home, circular economies and the role of the Metaverse and gaming platforms in future construction.
